[ponyakr]

i thought of something that i havn't talked about much that some may find very interesting. in '73 i started racin at an airstrip track in haynesville La. there was no tree & no timing equipment of any kind. we had no idea how quick or fast we were going, much less what our reaction time was. the spots were given in so many feet head start, which for the 1st 100' or so was marked off with paint on the track surface, between the lanes. for any spot longer than that, it was strickly up to the flagman to estimate. for those long spots, the flagman would sit on the fender of the car & ride down the track to what he considered the correct distance. purty advanced technology huh? then he would back up a short distance & flag the race from there. i think i've mentioned beating the pinto with a bounty on his head. i suspect he got that bounty put on him thru wins he got as a result of spots that were far too long. the car was obviously stone stock & he drove it to every race. nethier me nor T.J. could remember( its been a few years) exactly what class he ran, but it was somewhere in the w-x-y-z range. i ran d-stock. i remember that the spot was 410 ft. so the flagman got on the fender & they rode of into the sunset. can you imagine what would happen today if somebody jumped onto the fender of somebody's race car? anyway they drove on down to what looked to me to be at least 1/2 track. the flagman got out & took his position. at this point i didn't think i had a chance. this spot looked ridiculous. so, just to add a little drama to the situation & to help entertain the crowd (this is the track where we had so many fans) i got out & held my hand up as if shielding my eyes from the sun & looked intently down the track as if trying to make out some distant object. yes, this really happened. i am not makin this up. then i climbed back in the goat & got ready. & it really was sorta hard to detect the motions of the flagman that far away. anyway, i got to the line 1st(according to the finish line man, there to determine winners) & drove back down passed the crowd, who by now were jumpin & cheerin & goin wild. yah, they loved the ole goat. i don't blame 'em, i did too!